South Carolina Basketball: Ranking the top-15 forwards in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Basketball’s No. 3 Greatest Forward of All-Time:
Chris Silva
Chris Silva (2015-2019) was a lot of fun to watch during his Gamecock tenure. Extremely athletic but, at times, out of control, Silva was like a Tasmanian devil on the court as a freshman, making freakish athletic plays one minute and crashing into everyone else on the court the next. He ended up breaking the SEC’s career record for personal fouls, something that is no surprise at all to those who watched him play.
The “good” that came with Chris Silva far outweighed the “bad,” however. Using his quick-twitch athleticism and long arms, Silva became one of the best overall defenders to ever play at South Carolina. #30 was named the 2017-2018 Defensive Player of the Year and made the All-Defensive First-Team in the conference two times.
On offense, Silva’s game was completely built upon his athleticism until his junior season. All of a sudden, the Gabon native became one of the most accurate 3-point shooters in the SEC over his final two years in college. He particularly excelled at making long balls from the top of the key after acting as the trail man on the fast break. The athleticism never left Silva, though, as the big man had some major rim-rattlers during his time in Columbia.
Silva finished his Carolina career in the top-10 in total points, rebounds, blocked shots, free throws made, and 3-point percentage. He has since spent four years in the NBA where he is still active.